The 2014/2015 artistic season of Safarkhan gallery in Zamalek presents the valuable works of one of Egypt's most renowned Alexandrian artists Abdel Salam Eid. Known for his modern vision, the artist presents us with artworks made from multiple mediums: oil works to water colours to 3D dimensional works using various materials like ropes, lace, stones, fabric, mosaic, wood and other materials transforming his creations into marvelous works of art. The masterpiece of the exhibition is placed close to the entrance, to the right, and also serves as the subject of the exhibition's promotional poster. Combining photography, mosaics, and 3D dimensional sculptures of birds in the centre, the piece aptly captures the artist's methodology. Art Focus delves deeply into the world of the artist not the professor of decoration at the Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts. Eid is a very far sighted artist who sees what normal people can't see and echoes these futuristic visions on canvas. Eid invites the viewer to share with him his adventure in reflecting what he witnesses in the surrounding world creating infrequent pieces of works. His paintings that depict the landscape are very bizarre and urge the audience to raise up questions in an attempt to decipher the artist's idea behind the work. But Eid's interesting approach doesn't end with the unusual materials he employs, as he uses them in unusual ways, too. In another, much larger, piece, the mosaic element sees Eid use the tiles face down, revealing the rough, corrugated backside. The tiles were sliced to tiny pieces and then reassembled to form interlocking geometric patterns reminiscent of Islamic motifs. To contrast the ceramic mosaic tiles, he uses blue glass towards the top which makes the entire piece glisten with colour. Born in 1943 in Alexandria, Eid has received several national and international accolades for his work in photography. The exhibition runs through 6 December.
